This last week in gaming: Amazon announced a game service called Luna, the industry celebrated Super Mario’s 35th anniversary, Peter Parker’s face changed in Spider-Man, and more!
Industry News
Introducing Luna – Amazon’s New Cloud Gaming Service Where it’s Easy to Play on the Devices You Already Own
“We created Luna to make it easy to play great games on the devices customers already own and love,” said Marc Whitten, Vice President, Amazon Entertainment Devices and Services. “It’s Day One for Luna—we are excited to work with gamers, streamers, and publishers like Ubisoft and Remedy Entertainment to build a great gaming experience for everyone.”
The Amazon blog: September 24, 2020
Amazon has entered the game services market! This looks like a very interesting subscription model with promising integrations between Amazon devices, Twitch, and some big publishers. Definitely something to keep an eye on.
Gaming Culture
35 Thoughts About Mario on Super Mario’s 35th Anniversary
Insights and observations about Super Mario, what he means to video game culture and why he remains popular today.
Stephen Totilo – The New York Times: October 1, 2020
As someone who has played Mario games almost her entire life, I had fun learning some interesting tidbits about the franchise in celebration of the 35th anniversary!
What we talk about when we talk about ‘Ghost of Tsushima’
…even if game companies have chosen a more detached, “staying in our own lane” marketing posture, players will still seek to police critical discourse surrounding their favorite products. This open hostility to anyone with an alternative view is ultimately detrimental to intelligent discourse or criticism.
David Shimomura – Washington Post: October 1, 2020
An excellent commentary on the tribalism that poisons the game industry. This article shines a spotlight on the harassment towards people who had valid criticisms of the Ghost of Tsushima, particularly from reviewers of Japanese descent outside the Japan. Gaming culture has a tendency to shout down voices who don’t agree with the majority critique, and that’s wrong.
To be clear: I don’t mean that we should tolerate criticism or negative commentary that is rooted in racism, sexism, homophobia, or any other kinds of toxic bias. We should absolutely be anti-all of the above. My point is that we shouldn’t dismiss valid criticism just because it doesn’t fit our narrative of the game.
The Spider-Man Remaster changes a lot – including Peter Parker’s face
On Wednesday, Sony announced new details on Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered, an update of Marvel’s Spider-Man for Sony’s next-generation console, the PlayStation 5. The game will feature a few expected upgrades, like better graphics, a higher frame rate, and a few new Spider-Man suits. It will also feature some unexpected changes … like a brand-new face for Peter Parker.
Austen Goslin (@AustenG) – Polygon: September 30, 2020
This one has received quite the reaction on Twitter. It’s been a while since I played the original game; this has inspired me to go back so that I can appreciate the improvement in graphics quality.
Games I Love
Outer Wild’s existential loneliness is engaging, entertaining | Why I Love
Lovable Hat Cult’s Patrick Jarnfelt explores Mobius Digital’s curiously uplifting story of a doomed solar system
gamesindustry.biz – September 29, 2020
Google recommended me this article knowing how much I love Outer Wilds. It’s a great summary that captures why the game is so great.
Weekly Reads is a weekly Friday post sharing game industry articles I read throughout the week. Each post is a 5-minute read that covers no more than 5 articles. Follow me on Twitter to receive notifications of new posts!
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